NEWS
Emancipation gift from PM TT’s First Peoples to get their land
In May this year, the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community made a call for greater recognition. On its Facebook page the community highlighted several milestones in the community’s history. The group then said, “May 8, 1990 was a milestone in the history of The First Peoples of Trinidad and Tobago. On that date, the Cabinet of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) “decided that the Santa Rosa Carib Community be recognized as representative of the Indigenous Amerindians of Trinidad and Tobago, and approved an annual subvention of $30,000 to aid in its development. Cabinet also agreed that an Amerindian Project Committee be appointed to advise government on the development of the community. In coming to these decisions, Cabinet took into consideration that “as the oldest sector of this country’s multi-cultural society, the Amerindians have, for some time been recognised as having unique needs for their cultural and economic viability”. Read more…
Education official: Innovation needed to diversify economy
In light of T&T’s current state of economy, studies in innovation and animation are needed to guide Government in realising its efforts to diversify the economy. So said Ashram Deoraj, director— Teachers Supervision and Management, Ministry of Education, who delivered remarks on behalf of the Minister in the Ministry of Education, Lovell Francis, at the launch of the Sectoral Innovation Mapping (SIM) of the Animation Industry in T&T held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre in Port-of-Spain last Friday. “As you would know, the current volatility in the price of oil and gas suggests that it is not prudent to put all eggs in one basket. “We need to expand the economic base for our country’s survival, and in light of this, I think the conduct of this research and the selection of non-energy industries like animation, a strategic services sector, gives us in Government a comprehensive understanding of viable economic alternatives to generate income and employment,” Deoraj said. Read more…
Turkey 'set to deport 9 Trinis'
Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi says local law enforcement authorities “are in the process of confirming with certainty from their foreign counterparts what the actual state of affairs really is” regarding a newspaper report out of Turkey that nine Trinidad and Tobago nationals were held there and being deported back home. Al-Rawi made the comment in an interview with TV6 News yesterday as he revealed the State now has 74 applications before the High Court to have individuals and organisations identified on a United Nations Security Council Sanctions List designated as “terrorist entities” in Trinidad and Tobago. Al-Rawi says the State has already been successful in its application to have the group called ISIS (also known as ISIL or Da'esh) designated as a terrorist organisation by the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago. “If you apply it to this allegation right now in Trinidad and Tobago. If it is alleged that people are going to become members of ISIS one important step is that ISIS is recognised by our courts as a terrorist agency,” Al-Rawi told TV6 News. The Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah has reported that nine Trinidad and Tobago nationals are expected to be deported back to Trinidad and Tobago from Turkey shortly. Read more…
POLITICS
Minister: Development blocks beach access
Minister of Planning and Infrastructure Camille Robinson- Regis lamented the lack of accessibility by the public to the Chagville beach in Chaguaramas following developments made for a Water and Fun park in that area. The Minister made the remarks during a brief interview with Newsday after she along with several senior officials from the Chaguaramas Development Association (CDA) and the Environmental Management Auithority (EMA) conducted a tour of the site of the facility, last week. Robinson-Regis said that one of the concerns she had with the construction of the Park was its location, adding that it hindered public access to the beach. She added that the Ministry was currently reviewing leases of land within the Chaguaramas area. According to the Minister under the previous administration, the status of Chaguaramas as a National Park was overlooked by developers of the project. Read more…
Al-Rawi: Suspects to be under strict surveillance
As nine T&T nationals were expected to be deported late yesterday for allegedly trying to travel to Syria to join the terror group, Islamic State, also known as Isis, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi is assuring the nation that the men, like any other deportees, will be kept under strict surveillance. He added that evidence was currently being gathered to determine what possible charges they may face. He said these could range from facing a jail term, heavy sanctions and forfeiture of assets. At the end of the day anybody in an alleged circumstance of terrorism has to face the courts. There is due process and it must be done fairly but at the same time you have to take an intelligence-based approach to this,” the AG said in an interview yesterday. According to the Daily Sabah, the men were nabbed by Turkish officials in Adana, while travelling in a truck on July 27. Read more…
Imbert to act for two weeks
Finance Minister Colm Imbert will be acting Prime Minister from Thursday as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley begins his two-week vacation leave. A statement sent from the Office of the Prime Minister dated yesterday said: “The citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are hereby informed that the Prime Minister, Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley, will be proceeding on vacation leave from the August 4, for a period of two weeks. This is in keeping with the terms and conditions of the position as set out by the Salaries Review Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.” According to the release, the General Review of Salaries and Other Terms and Conditions of Service of Offices within the Purview of the Salaries Review Commission of November 2013, on the subject of vacation leave, all ministers and the Prime Minister are entitled to “30 calendar days per annum”. “The General Review also states, ‘Where it is not convenient for the office holder to proceed on leave in any given year, such leave to be preserved to be taken at a convenient time or, alternatively, the office holder to be given the option to receive salary in lieu thereof; such payment to be made at the end of the full parliamentary term to which the leave relates',” the statement said. Read more…
BUSINESS
Central Bank: Liquidity falls
The Central Bank is reporting that liquidity in this country’s financial system has declined since it issued its last Monetary Police Announcement (MPA) in May. According to the Bank’s latest MPA, which was issued on July 29, commercial banks’ excess reserves fell to a daily average of $3.9 billion compared with $6.4 billion in May and $5.6 billion in June. Commercial banks excess reserves were elevated in May and June, as investors held liquid funds in anticipation of Government’s domestic borrowing. So far, Governmenr’s operations resulted in a net domestic fiscal withdrawal of $790.7 million, while the Central Bank’s net open market operations removed $32.3 million and sales of foreign exchange, the equivalent of a further $1.3 billion.
Tourism Minister: TDC CEO was not fired
Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe has denied that Government forced CEO of the Tourism Development Company (TDC) Keith Chin to resign. Chin tendered his resignation from the State agency on July 1 after two years on the job. The action surprised many at the TDC and across the tourism sector who said he was the most stable senior management official at the State agency and had helped to stabilise the organisation which was underfunded and under staffed. Warren Solomon, general manager for marketing at the TDC, has been appointed to act in the position. There had been claims that the resignation was linked to statements made by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, at a political meeting in St Joseph when he said two State agencies—the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB)—spent $734,000 of taxpayers’ money on a radio station to defame him. Read more…
Gas output expected to rise in 2017
Shortages were still a complaint in 2014 but at least output of Trinidad and Tobago's main export commodity, natural gas, is forecast by the country's top producer to increase 23 per cent next year. Numbers from two statements released by BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC suggest natural gas production will grow to 4,238 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), its highest level since March 2014's 4,362 mmscfd. Read more…
REGIONAL
Storm Warning - Rush For Emergency Goods As Earl Threatens
With Jamaica starting to feel the effects of a weather system that could develop into Tropical Storm Earl, some business operators yesterday reported a significant increase in demand for emergency supplies, while residents of one flood-prone community have resurrected their cry about their vulnerabilities. Up to eight o'clock last night, the Meteorological Service of Jamaica reported that the country, under a tropical storm warning, could begin experiencing storm-like conditions "in 36 hours or less, possible sustained wind speeds of 34-63 knots or 63-118 km/h,". Heavy rains, thunderstorms and gusty winds, which have been affecting sections of the island, are expected to continue through tomorrow. Already six deaths in the Dominican Republic have been linked to the effects of the system, which Jamaican authorities say will see southern parishes "more severely impacted". The Government has activated the National Emergency Control Centre and yesterday Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie urged Jamaicans, especially those in flood-prone areas, to heed all the cautions issued to them and make use of shelters that are now open. Read more…
Guyana names new ambassador to Kuwait
Guyana this week named Professor Dr Shamir Ally as its next resident ambassador to Kuwait. The Guyana embassy in Kuwait has been without an ambassador for over two years now, with Sarfaraz Shadood heading the embassy since former ambassador Dr Odeen Ishmael retired. Ally was among a group of newly appointed ambassadors that Guyana will deploy to several corners of the world. The government held a one week orientation workshop for newly appointed diplomats. The workshop emphasized economic diplomacy and protection of Guyana’s territorial sovereignty amidst threats from its neighbour Venezuela and especially after the recent discovery of major “world class” oil and gas reserves off the coast of Guyana. The workshop was put on by the ministry of foreign affairs of Guyana under the leadership of the foreign minister and vice-president, Carl Greenidge, and the director of the ministry of foreign affairs, Audrey Waddell. Greenidge has overhauled the ministry in an effort to bolster professionalism, efficiency and expertise in diplomacy. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Dylann Roof case: Defense lawyers file challenge to federal death penalty
Defense attorneys of the accused killer Dylann Roof filed a legal challenge to the U.S. death penalty on Monday night. Roof's attorneys filed the motion stating that they would drop the challenge if prosecutors dropped their pursuit of the death sentence in his case. Roof, 22, is accused of killing nine people at a historic African American church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. Roof, who is white, is charged with 33 federal offenses, including hate crime charges for allegedly targeting his victims on the basis of their race and religion. Read more…
Syrian conflict: Saraqeb 'attacked with chlorine gas'
2nd August 2016